CR makes strides to improve access
As we begin this new year, I am happy to announce new leadership on the College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees. Beginning on January 7, 2020, Dr. Colleen Mullery will assume the role of President, Mr. Danny Kelley as Vice President, and Mr. Richard Dorn as Clerk. I am confident that they will use their experience, knowledge, and education to help move CR forward.
I also want to thank Mr. Bruce Emad, whose tenure as president of the Board will end when Dr. Mullery takes over in January, for his exemplary and thoughtful leadership this past year. He has been a dedicated and trusted leader and, although he is stepping down as President of the Board, we are grateful that Mr. Emad will continue to serve as a Trustee in the coming year.
I would also like to take a moment to thank the incredible community of faculty, students, staff, and alumni, and our local supporters and friends, who make CR the wonderful higher education institution it is. You are the reason — as I write this second column — that I can say with full confidence that we are a strong and vibrant institution.
Looking back at 2019, we made good progress towards increasing student success at CR. One of the important ways was to fully embrace the new requirements of state bill AB 705, which maximizes the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level English and math coursework within one year by creating support structures for students, such as a new writing center and math lab, rather than placing them in remedial courses that waste time and money. Our faculty worked hard to design this new and innovative, student-centered educational approach, which will increase the number of students earning degrees and certificates while closing equity gaps.
The results were evident in the data. In comparison to the previous year, 30% more students were successful in transfer-level English and 33% more students were successful in transfer-level math in the 2018-19 school year. We are hopeful this is just the beginning of an upward trend.
Going forward we feel that this is an exciting time for CR. In the spring, the first students will begin the LN to RN bridge program in Del Norte, we’ve extended our free tuition program into a second year, creating the opportunity to receive an Associate’s degree for free, and we developed four new academic pathways in Social Justice, Environmental Science, Social Work and Human Services, and CIS Cybersecurity.
In our Career Education area, the new fabrication lab (FabLab) gives students real-world experience in metalwork and fabrication and we launched the tiny home construction initiative, a cross-disciplinary program that includes handson experience in welding, carpentry and interior design.
Downtown in our Workforce and Community Education office we’re offering a new pharmacy technician program, a much-needed construction project management course, and a beginning welding workshop for women, which will allow them to learn welding basics in a supportive environment. We look forward to these and other exciting developments in 2020.
After reporting all this good news, I want to end where I began, by thanking the community for everything you do to make these initiatives possible. I am honored to represent CR and to work along with the Board of Trustees, faculty, students, and staff to create educational opportunities for everyone in our community.